Earth Day Beach Clean-Up! What does it mean to be Clean @ Sephora?

[JeffreyBD]

Happy Belated Earth Day BIC! Jeffrey Here. Sephora Beauty Director.

Wait, shouldn't it be Earth day, every day? Well we should definitely start thinking that way!

At least that's what I concluded at a recent beach clean-up with Summer Fridays after hearing about the event on their social channel. Easter Sunday, I made my way out to Santa Monica Beach to join the SF team and brand founders Lauren Gores and Marianna Hewitt. The brand collaborated with the SurfRider Foundation, "a community of everyday people who passionately protect our playground - the ocean, waves, and beaches," to bring people from all over Los Angeles to join hands and pick up trash while learning more about what we can do to make an impact. Alongside Summer Fridays were partners APL Sportswear, Health-Ade Kombucha, and Outdoor Voices, and each organization had people come in to donate their time and energy to make the beach a better place to be. Thank you to Summer Fridays for organizing this event, I had an amazing day.

The SurfRider TentThe Incomparable Marianna HewittTools of the tradeGetting ready to leaveHealth Ade KombuchaGloves and a reusable bag for me!Thanks for the Gifties!

All-in-all I'm truly grateful for the experience, because it definitely put things into perspective and allowed me to understand the impact I can make on a daily basis. As we were cleaning we were asked to really connect and be present to the trash that we were picking up; as well as, to think about how often we use or come in contact with these items. I picked up all sorts of things I use daily: bottle caps, food wrappers, and even [a few of] the little green plastic stoppers from my morning trips to Starbucks. It was all too real.

Spoiler

Warning Graphic Content:
Animals consume microplastics thinking they're foodThe US is directly related to the pollution hotspotsJust because you can't see doesn't mean it can't do damage.Drifting nets tangle up on mammals

As a person who is a consumer at heart, I know I have to always make conscious choices to protect my home, this planet. I use all sorts of products day-in-day-out not only with myself but with my clients, and I don't pay enough attention to what happens AFTER the product is washed down the drain. Needless to say, seeing all the microplastic we collected as a group made me a little uncomfortable. All of this wasted material ends up filtering into the oceans and causes so much damage to the marine life. It was an eye-opening day, mainly because I was forced to accept that I am ultimately part of the problem. But, I know that I can also be the solution!

Sorting by sizeHow many pieces can you count?

It all brought me back to Sephora's "Clean" initiative and all of the brands that we carry that are bringing about change for the future. I'm honored to be supporting these brands when I can and sharing the unique stories of how they help our environment. Each time I choose to use/purchase/showcase a product with the Sephora "Clean" Logo I know that it has been looked at closely to see just how it impacts the Earth and the people that live here. Only those that have the purest ingredients, solid quality, and a low carbon impact can wear this badge. So I implore you to take a deep look at our Clean category. Join us in preserving the planet by taking small steps each day towards a cleaner you:

www.sephora.com/beauty/clean-beauty-products

To learn More about how you can participate in cleaning up your local beaches or how to reduce your amount of water pollution visit SurfRider:

www.surfrider.org

• How do YOU define clean beauty?
• How does it make you feel to see our brands taking steps towards a healthier environment?
• How do YOU take action to make this world a cleaner place to live?
• Thoughts on the future? What would you like to see from the Global Beauty Community to support this cause?
• Clean brands are on the rise, Are there any clean brands we should look at carrying?
• Shout out your favorite Clean brand/product and tell us how it's inspired you to preserve our planet!

[Guessgal]

Happy Earth Day🌎 @SephoraBIC @TeamBIC

Reviving this thread because I saw that both Nordstrom & Hudson’s Bay have recently launched a recycling program so that consumers can drop off empty beauty containers (Nordstrom even accepts caps, pumps, and travel sizes!) at their stores. Is Sephora considering launching one? I see below that fellow BIC’ers @roses8 @greeneyedgirl107 also mentioned the idea last year 🙂

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Guessgal Thanks for bringing this up - I hope someday it is a reality.  🙂

[roses8]

Will sephora have a recycling program? Where empty palettes, bottles, lipsticks, etc can be dropped.

[greeneyedgirl107]

@JeffreyBD For me, recycling is very important.  Just this week I recycled a flat iron spray and an anti-frizz spay but was disheartened that in my township only the bottles can be put in for recycling - not the plastic caps.  I would love it if Sephora offered a program where we could drop off beauty containers to be recycled.  I know other BICers have expressed this interest as well.  🙂

[PrettyPaint]

What an important post @JeffreyBD. I was so excited (and still am) when Sephora introduced the clean category. The vast majority of my fragrance and skincare purchases come from the clean cateogry, and I’m slowly trying to integrate more makeup products as well. I particularly use a lot from youth to the people, farmacy, herbivore, lawless, and the 7 virtues. 

[faeriegirl]

Thank you for sharing @JeffreyBD! I’m so glad I have switched almost all my skincare to clean brands😊

[JeffreyBD]

YAY!!! We have so many cool brands doing so many cool things! I love what REN is doing with reclaimed plastic! So cool!

[pocketvenus]

@JeffreyBDThank you for writing this post and sharing your pics! I would LOVE to see a reduction in plastic when it comes to packaging, or use of minimal/recycled packaging.

One of my favourite "clean" brands is pure + simple, from Canada. Another is Martina Gebhardt which I believe is a German brand.

[JeffreyBD]

Ok I'll definitely be looking into these! Thanks for the suggestions.

I agree about the packaging. Some of the press kits I receive make me feel some kind of way. Believe you me, I'm grateful, but I wish the brands would pause to consider where all this plastic is ending up.